About Me & My Job

For quite some time I had been very unhappy with my job. It was to the point that I was ready to quit upon the first opportunity I got and even at the risk of making less money. I didn’t quit though, I couldn’t. I prayed about it and felt that it was God’s will that I should stay. No matter how much I talked about wanting to quit and how I was going to get another job at such and such a place, I knew that I was acting in opposition to what God had spoken to me.

Everything has changed. I have changed. I knew that for some time my work ethic was not of the type that glorified Christ. And everyday I left my job I felt convicted about it, but instead of making a commitment to improve and change I only tried to ignore it in hope that I would get a knew job soon where all would be better. The change began to happen after my buddy Daniel Sparks called me from California and we both confessed our unhappiness with our jobs and how such unhappiness had affected our work ethic. We wanted to change, to glorify God in all we do, and to be the best where God has called us to be without complaining and grumbling. In conclusion, we confessed our sins and surrendered our jobs to God in prayer. And that is where my heart and attitude began to change.

A few months ago I happened to be sitting at Starbucks (where Andrea works) on a Thursday night after Pillar (my church’s young adult ministry) just talking with some friends, when suddenly, a fellow named Bobby walked up an introduced himself. It turned out that when Andrea was taking his order at the line that she discovered Bobby spoke Spanish and thus she got all excited and told him that her husband spoke Spanish also. And Bobby, being the outgoing people person that he is decided he should introduce himself. That is when Bobby and I first met. To be honest, I knew that our encounter had not been an accident or just a random event. It wasn’t.

The day after Bobby and I met I arrived to work as usual (not really wanting to be there) and to my surprise Bobby was in the manager’s office. I didn’t remember ever having told him where I worked—I never did. I couldn’t believe it. When I asked what he was doing in there they told me that he was interviewing for a job. Guess what? He got the job.

Bobby became the next major factor that brought a shift to my attitude at work. Since his being there I have been challenged to work differently. It is an amazing thing what working with other people who are serious about following Jesus can do. Whereas just a month ago I adamantly wanted to quit my job, now I want to work my best.

Finally, but certainly not least, the way I talk about where I work has probably made the biggest difference in my attitude. As I have cancelled the habit of complaining about it, I have been working to establish a new habit—one of thanksgiving and of speaking blessings. Unless God changes my plans I have now decided to stay with International Bank of Commerce until I graduate from A&M in the summer.

Sometimes the change that is needed is not a change of location but a change of mind and heart.